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European Commission Closes Pigmeat Private Storage Aid

EU - EU Member States have backed a Commission move to close Private Storage Aid for pigmeat.

Since the measure was introduced, on 9 March, EU pigmeat market prices have stabilised and the weekly uptake by operators has now dropped to modest volumes.

In these circumstances the Commission believes that it is no longer justified to maintain this market intervention, and a proposal to close the scheme was voted on by Member State experts in the CMO Committee.

In the past seven weeks, some 65,000 tonnes of pigmeat have been temporarily taken off the market (for three to five months) in 18 different Member States.

The greatest take-up came in Denmark, Spain and Germany – with smaller volumes also having been stored in Poland, Italy, Netherlands, France and Belgium. The majority of the cuts covered were boneless cuts (63 per cent).